Americans receiving a drone as a Christmas gift this year will be
required to register the unmanned aircraft with the Federal
Aviation Administration after the agency quietly passed new ruled
governing drones earlier this week. The rules are in
response to growing safety concerns as more and more drones are
used across the country and a number of accidents involving
remote controlled aircraft are reported. Insiders estimate
that some 700,000 drones will be purchased during the holiday
shopping period, prompting regulators to act quickly to establish
a database of drone operators. Drone owners will be
required to submit their name, home address and email address to
the FAA, in an initiative that regulators hope will make drone
owners fly more responsibly.

The move to require drone owners to register has received
abundant criticism from insiders, who claim that anybody with
nefarious plans for their drone would just avoid registering.
Drones that have an accidental collision with an aircraft,
meanwhile, would likely be destroyed, including any
distinguishing remarks that investigators would use to match the
craft with its owner. Supporters argue that the new rules
are not designed to allow the FAA to police all drone flights,
but to create a culture of responsibility among recreational
drone pilots. This culture, supporters assert, will help
avoid hundreds of accidental collisions a year as drone use
continues to spread. The rules were outlined in a 211 page
document released Monday.

The new FAA rules regarding drone use specify that owners of a
drone weighing from half a pound to 55 pounds must register,
though only registrations from American users will be allowed.
The database for registered drone users will be activated
on December 21st, along with the registration website:
faa.gov/uas/registration. Those who register in the
first thirty days, the agency said, will be allowed to do so for
free. After January 20, 2016; a $5 fee will be charged for
a 3-year registration. Existing drone owners, or those who
owned their craft before December 21st, will be given until
February 19,2016 to register. Anybody purchasing a drone
after that date, meanwhile, will be required to complete the
registration before their first flight. Failure to comply
with registration requirements could lead to criminal penalties
of up to $27,000 in fines and up to three years in federal
prison. The FAA already had a few rules in place governing
drone use, prohibiting nighttime flight, flight above 400 feet or
within 5 miles of an airport.

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